Sarafina
by sanniebannie4
Summary: Sarafina is a mixed race Woodelf. Half Nord, half Woodelf. After the passing of her parents, she goes to Skyrim. But her welcome in this new cold land isn't as she hoped for. Rated T just to be sure. XD
1. Chapter 1: I almost lose my head

Chapter 1: I almost lose my head

(EDIT: Better space-ing :D)

"Damn you stupid rock." I scold the piece of pointy stone I just tripped over. It doesn't reply. Cursing under my breath, I look at my bloodied hands. Carefully I try the healing spell mom taught me a few years ago. A tiny golden flame flickers to life in my palms, soothing the pain a bit. After a few seconds it dies out, but my palms look a little better.

I stand up, pushing my strawberry-blond locks out of my face, and look around me. "So this is Skyrim." The chill of the native country of my father makes me pull my cape closer around me. This place is nothing like Valenwood. I sigh, thinking about the reasons I left my birth land in the first place.

Number 1: My mom died a few months ago. Her last wish was that I would return to Skyrim with her ashes, to lay them in my father's tomb in Markarth.

Reason number 2: I was sick of being called "mutt". You see, I'm mixed race. Mom's a Woodelf, Dad's a Nord. Easy enough. Sadly, my "people", if you can call it that, wouldn't accept me like one of their own. Said I was "a black sheep". I spit on the ground in anger thinking of reason number 2. Who do they think they are, stupid pure-blood lovers.

I walk further down the road, while looking at the map of Skyrim I brought from a Khajit trader a couple of days ago. According to the map, there would be a town called Helgen a few miles from here. "Well, I guess that's my best chance on an inn for today I guess." I mutter, and continue walking at a steady pace. I suddenly hear people yelling, and of course with my great curiosity, I decide to investigate. When getting to the source of the yelling, I see two groups of soldiers, one in blue armour, one in red. They seem to be fighting one and other. Suddenly one soldier, clothed in red armour, spots me and points his sword towards me. "There's another one!" My yellow-green eyes widen in surprise. "EXCUSE ME?! I'M NOT-" My scream of fright is cut short by something hitting me hard in the back of the head. My vision darkens and I fall down to the ground.

*Timeskip brought to you by IMPERIAL BASTERDS!*

Groaning, I open my eyes, trying to adjust them to the sharp light. When I try to rub my eyes, I find that my hands are bound, and that I seem to be moving. Hearing horses walking and wooden wheels roll over the stone road, I make the conclusion. I'm on a carriage.

"Hey, you. You're finally awake."

Turning my head to the source of the sound, I see a middle-aged blond Nord in blue armour sitting in front of me, his hands also bound. He smiles weakly at me.

"You were trying to cross the border right?"

I nod carefully, and the man nods understanding.

"Same as us, and that thief over there."

He motions with his head to the man sitting next to him, a grim looking Nord in rags. "Damn you Stormcloaks." He spits. "Everything was fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy. If they wouldn't have been looking for you, I would've stolen that horse and be half way to Hammerfell!"

The blond Nord only chuckles at this assault. "We're all brothers and sisters in bounds now thief." The Imperial soldier sitting in front steering the horse sighs in annoyance. "Shut up back there." I let my head fall, noticing they were so 'nice' to leave my own clothes on. Only my old iron dagger is gone. Figures.

"What's wrong with him huh?" The grim Nord looks at the man to my right, and I look at him too. The man looks pretty much like a nobleman, even though his hands are bound and he is gagged with a big piece of cloth. "Watch your tongue! You speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King!" The blond Nord shouts, making the other pale. "Ulfric? The Jarl of Windhelm? You're the leader of the rebellion.. But if they captured you.." His face turns to pure panic. "Oh gods.. Where are they taking us?" The Nord sighs, turning his head to see a town emerging out of the woods. "I don't know where we're going.. But Sovengarde awaits.." I feel my own face pale at his words. Sovengarde.. That's what my father used to tell me was the afterlife for Nords. I curse under my breath, I don't want to die yet!

"No.. This can't be happening, this isn't happening.." the Nord mutters. It's silent for a few seconds, until the blond Nord speaks up again. "Hey.. What village are you from horse thief?" The man huffs. "Why do you care?" "A Nord's last thoughts should be of home." Good advice Blondie.. It's silent for a few seconds again. "Rorikstead.. I'm.. I'm from Rorikstead.." the man mutters quietly.

The carriage now nears the gates, which are opened. "General Tullius sir, the headsman is waiting!" a guard calls from above the gate. One of the men who rides behind us one horseback calls back "Good. Let's get this over with." The grim Nord begins panicking. "Shor, Mara, Dibella, Kynareth, Akatosh. Divines, please help me." I feel my eyes tear up, but I push them back. If I'm gonna die, I'll die with my head high. Blondie huffs at the general. "Look at him.. General Tullius, the military governor. And it looks like the Thalmor are with him." I turn my head to see a few High Elves sitting on horseback as well, and my blood boils. You won't find bigger pure blood-lovers in all of Tamriel. "Damn Elves. I bet they have something to do with this." I narrow my eyes a bit. Believe me, I get it that most Nords don't like Elves, but we're not all bad. Blondie looks around him, looking at the buildings. "This is Helgen. I wonder if Velod still makes that mead with juniper berries mixed in.." He chuckles slightly. "Funny.. When I was a boy, Imperial walls and towers used to make me feel so safe.."

I smiles slightly at his words, remembering how my dad used to tell me stories of brave Imperial soldiers who fought in the war. They aren't that nice in real life I guess. I look over my shoulder to see a boy sitting in front of his house. "Who are they Papa? Where are they going?" The boy's father puts a hand on his shoulder. "You need to get inside little cub." "Why? I wanna watch the soldiers." The father pulls him up, pushing him to the door. "Inside the house. Now." The boy goes inside, mumbling a bit. I sigh. This is gonna be the end. The carriage starts slowing down. "Why are we stopping?" the grim Nord says in a panic. Blondie smirks. "Why do you think? End of the line." The carriage stops and Blondie starts getting up. "Let's go. Shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us." I stand up as well, feeling my knees weaken. Pushing through my fear, I keep getting up. The grim Nord on the other hand, isn't that good with his fear.

"No! We're not rebels! You can't do this!" Blondie sighs. "Face your death with some courage thief." The grim Nord turns to Ulfric. "You gotta tell them, we weren't with you! This is a mistake!" Ulfric pushes him of him, however you can push with your hand bound, making the poor fellow trip out of the carriage. I step out of the carriage and help him up.

A tan Imperial woman in armour shouts to everyone. "Step towards the block when we call your name! One at the time!" Blondie jumps down from the carriage and rolls his eyes. "Empire loves their damn lists.." My legs are seriously shaking underneath my weight now. The block.. That's not how I want my life to end..

Another Imperial man reads up names from a list. "Ulfric Stormcloak. Jarl of Windhelm." Ulfric walks towards the block and Blondie gives him a respective nod. "It has been an honour, Jarl Ulfric.." The next name is read. "Ralof of Riverwood." Blondie walks towards the block. "So that's his name.." I think silently. "Lokir of Rorikstead." The Nord begins panicking. "No! I'm not a rebel! You can't do this!" And he dashes off.

"Halt!"

Lokir keeps running. "You're not gonna kill me!" The Imperial woman grumbles. "Archers!" My hart sinks as I see how Lokir falls dead on the ground with a few arrows in his back and head. The woman turns back to me.

"Anybody _else_ feel like running?"

I shake my head quickly, and suddenly the man raises an eyebrow. "Wait.. You there. Step forward." I step a bit closer. "Who are you?" I swallow and try to keep my voice steady. "Sarafina, s-sir.. Sarafina of Arenthia." The man nods. "Not many Wood Elves would choose to come alone to Skyrim." He turns to the woman. "Captain, what should we do? She's not on the list." I almost sigh in relief, but the woman says "Forget the list. She goes to the block.", making me panic again. The man nods. "By your orders captain." He turns to me. "I'm sorry. We'll make sure your remains are returned to Valenwood. Follow the captain prisoner."

Shaking, I follow the tanned woman to the group of other prisoners in rags. Most of them look at me with sympathy, some with mild hate. Long live the war that made almost every Nord hate our kind. I stop next to Ralof, who glances at me with a sad smile. "Ulfric Stormcloak, some here in Helgen call you a hero. But a hero doesn't use the power of the Voice to kill his king and usurp his throne." The general stands before Ulfric, who mumbles some things under his gag. Even I know those things are curse words. "You started this war, plunged Skyrim into chaos. And now the Empire is going to put you down, and restore the peace!" Suddenly a roar echoes through the air. The man who read the names looks around him. "What was that?" The general huffs. "It's nothing. Carry on." The Imperial woman salutes. "Yes general Tullius!" She turns to a priestess standing next to her. "Give them their last rites." The priestess raises her hands to the sky. "As we commend you souls to Epherious, blessings of the eight Devines upon you, for you are-"

A prisoner standing next to me groans and walks to the block. "For the love of Talos, shut up and let's get this over with." The priestess lowers her hands. "As you _wish_." She spits. The tan Imperial woman walks up to the man. "Come on! I haven't got all morning." The executioner complains. The prisoner is forced on his knees, his head on the block. He looks at the executioner and gives a mocking smile. "My ancestors are smiling at me Imperials. Can you say the same?" I can just close my eyes shut when the big axe of the executioner chops down at the neck of the poor fellow. Hearing blood splatter all over the stones, it takes all my strength not to gag.

"You Imperial bastards!" A woman shouts. "Justice!" The general shouts back. The tan Imperial woman raises a fist in the air. "Death to the Stormcloaks!" Ralof sighs next to me, grieving his friend. "As fearless in death, as he was in life.." The Imperial woman points to me. "Next, the Woodelf!" I swallow hard, feeling tears in my eyes.

Suddenly the roar echoes through the air again, and I shiver. Why do I have the feeling something is terribly wrong? "There it is again, did you hear that?" the man with the list says, concern in his voice. "I said, next prisoner." The woman calls. The man turns to me. "To the block prisoner. Nice and easy." I swallow again and walk to the block. With every few steps, I remember my life.

Step.

*Flashback to 13 years ago.*

"Sarafina! Did you steal a cookie again?" I quickly put my hands around my back and shake my head. "Nooo…" My mom peaks around the corner, her long strawberry-blond hair flowing over her shoulders and her golden eyes sparkling. She grins and walks up to me. "Really. Then what is this?" She picks a few crumbs of my cheeks and shows them to me. I give a guilty smile. "Fairies who put them on my face?" Mom laughs. "Sure honey. Of course." She dusts the rest of the cookie-crumbs off. "You know, if you wanted a cookie, you can just ask." I look up at her, yellow-green eyes meeting golden. "But you said I only could have one.. And they are so good!" My mom cups my cheek. "Sarafina, sweetie, your 10 now. You should know you shouldn't steal." I look down at the floor. "But if you do, erase the evidence." Mom says and I giggle softly.

*Flashback end*

Step.

*Flashback to 7 years ago*

"That's it! Put your weight between both legs or else you'll drop it." Calls the voice of my father. Following his instructions, I swing the sword at the dummy. Dad claps his hands. "Great! Now again!" I swing it again, this time harder. "Again! Harder!" I give it a good swing, and the doll's head flings away a few meters from its original position. Not exactly what I had planned for, but hey. I can hear the thundering laugh of my dad behind me. "HAHAHAHA! That's my girl!" I turn around to look at my dad. His green eyes sparkle with pride and he pats my shoulder. "Good job Sarafinny." I smirk at my nickname. "Thanks dad. Although I don't think Mom's gonna be happy with this.." He scratches the back of his head, making his brown hair bounce on his scalp, and shrugs. "Eh, it'll be alright. We'll sew it on again." I smile and crack my back. "That thing is heavy.." My dad chuckles. "Yeah, it heavier than that magic stuff. But you'll get used to it." I chuckle too. "I sure hope so."

*Flashback end*

I now stand before the block, and the woman pushes me down. I close my eyes seeing the head of the man lying in the wooden chest, the smirk still on its dead face. I breath in and out. "See you in a bit Mom and Dad.." I whisper softly. I hear the axe being raised, and wait for death.

Suddenly the roar returns, growing louder. "What is that?!" I open my eyes to see a dark form flying towards the tower behind the executioner. "Sentries! What do you see?" the woman calls. "It's in the clouds!" The enormous dark form lands on top of the tower, the shockwave making the executioner drop his axe on the ground, luckily not near my neck, and he stumbles to the ground. I look up to the big creature on the tower, and stare right into two big dark reptilian eyes. I hear weapons unsheathe.

"DRAGON!"


	2. Chapter 2: A warm welcome

Chapter 2: A "warm" welcome.

(A/N: Thank you Myra the Sark for the tip! I'll space a bit more. I write this in Word, so I couldn't really judge the paragraphs ;P)

I can only stare at the beast, utter panic filling my entire body. The dragon opens its mouth, and a brute force erupts from its mouth, knocking me out of the way and killing the executioner on the spot. My head slams to ground and black spots cloud my vision. Suddenly two strong arms pull me up. "Hey! Wake up! Come on, the gods won't give us another chance!" I blink a few times and Ralof's face comes into focus. I nod quickly, and Ralof pulls me along to another tower. Screams and explosions come from everywhere, along with the roar of the black dragon.

When we enter the tower, I see multiple people sitting against the wall, one or two laying on the ground. Ralof takes my wrists and quickly cuts my bindings. "Jarl Ulfric, what is that thing? Could the legends be true?" I look to the man Ralof spoke to. Ulfric seems older now that his gag is removed. "Legends don't burn down villages." He says in a deep voice. The entire building rumbles. "We need to move. Now!" Ulfric calls.

Ralof takes me by the arm. "Up through the tower! Let's go!" We run up the stairs, and I see another man in blue armour. Just a second after I see him, something breaks through the wall and the dragon peers inside. "GET BACK!" screams Ralof and we both jump back against the wall, just in time before the dragon roasts the poor man alive. The dragon flies away, and we look through the big hole in the wall.

Ralof points to the building next to the tower. "See that inn on the other side? Jump through, I'll catch up." I look at him, a thousand times thank-you in my eyes. "Don't you dare die on me. 'Kay?" Ralof chuckles slightly. "I won't. I promise. Now go!" I nod, and jump to the building. Sadly, when I land my ankle doesn't like that. I grumble and bite through the pain, limping outside.

There are two soldiers, one that I recognize as the man who read the list. He's trying to get a young boy to come his way. "Hamming! You need to get over here!" The boy whimpers softly, and I see why he's hesitating. His dad is lying on the pavement, apparently immobilized. Hearing the roaring of the beast coming closer, the boy runs up to the Imperial soldier. As soon as the boy is by the other soldier, the dragon lands behind the boy's father and burns him to a crisp. He then flies off again.

List-man notices me and smirks. "Still alive prisoner? Stay close to me if you want to stay that way." He turns to the older soldier. "Gunnar, take care of the boy. I have to find General Tullius and join the defense." Gunnar looks at him, respect in his eyes. "Gods guide you, Hadvar."

Hadvar runs towards an alley and I run after him. I suddenly see the dragon is preparing to land. "Stay close to the wall!" I push myself against the wall, feeling it rumble as the dragon lands on it. "Puny humans! You will all face the wrath of Alduin!" I freeze. Did that THING just talk?! The dragon breathes fire, frying another soldier to a crisp, and flies of. "Quickly, follow me!" says Hadvar, but I keep standing in the same place. He pulls me by the arm. "Come on!" This snaps me out of it, and I run after Hadvar.

After running for a few minutes, we stand in front of a keep. Suddenly Ralof runs into the scene. Hadvar grits his teeth in anger. "Ralof, you damn traitor.. Outta my way!" Ralof glares at him. "We're escaping Hadvar, there's no stopping us this time!" Hadvar glares at him for a second, then spits at the ground. "Fine! I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovengarde!" I can hear the dragon coming closer. "Guys…" I mutter in a panic. The two men sense the demon coming closer as well, and Ralof grabs me by the arm. "Come on! Into the keep!" I can just wave a quick goodbye to Hadvar as Ralof pulls me inside.

When we get inside, I see a man in the same blue armour as Ralof lying on the ground. Ralof walks towards him and checks his pulse. Finding none, he bows his head. "We'll meet again in Sovengarde brother.." Exhausted, I sit down on a chair. Suddenly the barrier I built up to cope with this situation breaks, and my vision begins to distort. I quickly wrap my arms around my waist and rock from side to side. "No.. Not now.. Anytime but now.." Images from my last episode dance through my mind, and I try to calm myself. I can't let that happen again.

*Flashback to 3 years ago*

"I'm sorry.. He.. He fought well." I stare at the blood-stained sword the soldier gave to me. "This can't be happening.. This must be a nightmare.. This can't be.." The words keep repeating in my mind. But I know it is true. My father is dead. My mother sobs quietly. "Did.. Did you find his body?" she asks. Her voice sounds like it's coming from a distance. The soldier shakes his head. "No miss. I'm sorry." Again the voice sounds from far away. The man puts a hand on my shoulder, but for some reason I can't feel it. The sword drops to the ground, and again I can't even hear it hit the wooden floor with a loud clang. My mom gives me a worried look. "Sarafina? Sweetie?" Suddenly I'm sitting on the ground, my vision turning woozy. "Sarafina?!" Something deep inside me snaps, and a high-pitched sound pierces my ears. Trying to block it out, I put my hands on my ears.

"Sarafina, please! Calm down!"

The noise gets louder. Suddenly my mom wraps her arms around me, and rocks me from side to side. The high pitched noise quiets down, turning to a soft whimper. "Ah.. So it's me.." I think. My mom begins humming a soft tune, calming me down. My vision clears again. I glance at my father's comrade, who has his hand on his weapon. "I believe I scared him.." I think quietly.

*End flashback*

"Looks like we're the only ones who made it. Come on, you can take-" Ralof cuts himself off as he looks at me. He lays his hand on my shoulder. "Hey. Are you okay?" I shake my head, and my breathing quickens. "No.. Not now.. You'll scare him.." I think. Suddenly he lifts my chin up, forcing me to look at him. "Hey.. It's going to be okay. We'll get out of here. Just breathe." I take a few deep breaths and my vision slowly turns back to normal. "Okay?" Swallowing, I nod. Ralof helps me up out of the chair and hands me a battle-axe.

"Here. You'll need to defend yourself."

I take the weapon, weighing it in my hand. It's a big heavier than a sword, but I can manage. Ralof begins looking for a way out, but both gates are locked. Suddenly he motions to me to get down. "Imperials! Take cover!" He hisses, and I hide out of sight. I hear the voices of two men and a woman, and the gate opens. As I sneak a peek at our intruders, my blood boils. The woman is miss 'Forget-the-list-we'll-kill-her-anyway ' herself. I grin sadistically, readying my weapon. Ralof bolts towards the two men, while I confront the captain.

"Hi there!" I say nonchalantly, and she jumps. Using the surprise, I slash at the weak spots in her armour. But the element of surprise hasn't helped that much. This woman is a captain, I'm just a commoner. But my advantages are that I'm quick on my feet, while she has heavy armour that slows her down, and she has a huge ego. Just when she doesn't block enough, I lunge at her neck with my axe. She quickly goes down, her blood splattered all over the floor. Meanwhile Ralof has killed one of the two men, and I come to help him with the other one. The man quickly goes down now that he has two attackers.

"These guys must have a key or something. Try to find it." Ralof says and he begins searching the two men. I walk towards the dead woman, giving the head a light kick, just to calm my nerves a bit. "That's for sending me to the block, you (INSERT CURSE-WORD HERE :P)." On close inspection I see a few keys hanging on her belt. I take the whole belt, along with her sword she dropped, and put it on. I hang the axe on the belt and just carry the sword as a weapon. It's lighter anyway. I give Ralof the keys, and he tries them on the gate. It swings open, and Ralof smiles. "That's it! Let's go."

The rest of our journey goes pretty good, though we find a few Imperials that died pretty quickly, until we enter a certain part of the big caves the hallways ended in. Ralof sinks into a sneaking position. "Hold up. There's a bear up ahead. See her?" I glance further into the cave to see a black bear sleeping. I shiver. Weren't the giant spiders from just now not enough? Ralof gives me a choice; Either try to sneak past, or kill the bear by surprise with a long bow he gives me. I study the weapon in my hands. Ah! There are the Woodelf genes kicking in! I grin, pull the string back with an arrow and aim. The bear moves its head, and I see that the arrow is aimed perfectly. Releasing the string, the arrow flies straight into the bear's brain. The animal dies with a loud roar. Ralof chuckles. "Not the sneaking type eh?"

I grin again, and go to retrieve the arrow. Pulling it out, I wrinkle my nose at the tiny pink pieces of meat hanging on the point of the arrow. I wipe it off on the black fur. Putting the arrow back in the quiver, we walk further. Suddenly we see sunlight coming from the end of the tunnel. Ralof laughs in relief. "There's the exit, I knew we'd make it!" My mouth curves up in a giant smile, and I bolt past Ralof to the exit, almost knocking him to the ground. "Watch it!" He laughs playfully, but I don't care. I'm out, free.

Stepping out of the cave, the first thing that I do is squint my eyes closed. Damn it sun, pipe it down! Ralof follows me and breathes in the cool air. Suddenly we hear the flapping of giant wings. We quickly both hide behind a rock, and watch how the black monster flies away. "There he goes.." Ralof murmurs. "Let's hope he's gone for good now.." I murmur back. We both get up and brush off the dust from our clothes. "And now what do we do?" I ask hesitantly. Ralof thinks for a second. "My sister Gerdur runs the mill in Riverwood, just up the road. Maybe she can help us out." I nod, and he smiles. "Let's go then, before this place gets swarmed by Imperials." And with those words, we're off.

A/N: WOO-HOO! Finally, I finished this chapter XD Reviews are welcome, as long as they're friendly ;) See you in the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3: The land called Skyrim

Chapter 3: The land called Skyrim

A/N: Thanks for the nice reviews guys! And I also saw some people are following this story; that's so nice of you :3 Well, here's the next chapter! :D (Warning: Contains cheesy goodbye :P)

While we are walking through the wilderness I glance at Ralof. "Sarafina." I say out loud. He stops and looks at me. "What?" I extend my hand. "I'm Sarafina." He grins and shakes my hand. "I'm Ralof. I wish we could've met under better circumstances." I chuckle. "Same here." We walk further, and come across three big boulders with symbols carved in. "These are the guardian stones." Ralof explains. I walk to the boulder on the left, where a hooded figure is carved in. Laying my hand on it, a tingling feeling spreads through my whole body. The whole boulder glows for a second, and Ralof smirks. "Thief eh? It's never too late to change your fate." I shake my head. "No.. I like this one. Feels right." Ralof shrugs. "If you say so."

After a few minutes of walking Ralof points at a big building on the mountain across the river. He tells me it's Bleak Falls Barrow, and how it always gave him nightmares. I just stare at it. It does look a bit intimidating. An half an hour later we arrive in Riverwood. The place seems calm, it looks like nobody heard what happened yet. Ralof gives me the same comment and leads me to the mill, where a young blond Nord woman stands. "Gerdur!" Ralof exclaims happily. The woman smiles seeing Ralof and hugs him. "Brother! Mara's mercy, It's good to see you.. But is it safe for you to be here? We heard that Ulfric had been captured..." She spots his expression and suddenly examines every inch of his face. "Are you hurt? What's happened?" Ralof softly pulls his sister's hands away from him. "Gerdur... Gerdur, I'm fine. At least now I am." He turns to me and smiles. Gerdur looks at me. "And who's this? One of your comrades?"

I smile at her. "I'm Sarafina. Nice to meet you Gerdur." Ralof chuckles. "And she not a comrade yet, but a friend. I owe her my life, in fact." He suddenly looks suspicious. "Is there somewhere we can talk? There's no telling when the news from Helgen will reach the Imperials..." Gerdur nods understandingly. "You're right. Follow me."

She leads us to a calm spot near the river, and calls out for someone called Hod to come down here. A deep male voice calls back. "What is it, woman? Sven drunk on the job again?" Gerdur sighs and rolls her eyes. "Hod. Just come here." I see a man in a white blouse looking down from the mill. As soon as he sees Ralof, his eyes grow big in surprise. "Ralof! What are you doing here? Ah... I'll be right down."

Suddenly a little boy with short blond hair comes running towards us, a grey dog happily walking behind him. "Uncle Ralof! Can I see your axe? How many Imperials have you killed? Do you really know Ulfric Stormcloak?" A smile creeps up my face while I sit down at a tree stump. This boy reminds me a lot of an old friend of mine, Anna, a younger Woodelf girl that never shut up. Gerdur gives the boy a stern look. "Hush, Frodnar. This is no time for your games. Go and watch the south road. Come find us if you see any Imperial soldiers coming." The boy's face turns to a pout. "Aw, mama, I want to stay and talk with Uncle Ralof!" Ralof suddenly begins to laugh and he ruffles the boy's hair. "Look at you, almost a grown man! Won't be long before you'll be joining the fight yourself." Frodnar smiles brightly. "That's right! Don't worry, Uncle Ralof, I won't let those soldiers sneak up on you." He dashes away, the dog on his heels.

Ralof chuckles, watching his nephew run to the edge of the village, where he stands proudly like a guard. Hod comes walking towards us and Ralof sits down next to me on the tree stump. Hod eyes us both, as well as the scars we got from our little adventure. "Now, Ralof, what's going on? You two look pretty well done in." Ralof sighs, taking a hand through his blond hair. "I can't remember when I last slept.." He sits up. "Where to start? Well, the news you heard about Ulfric was true. The Imperials ambushed us outside Darkwater Crossing. Like they knew exactly where we'd be. That was... two days ago, now. We stopped in Helgen this morning, and I thought it was all over. Had us lined up to the headsman's block and ready to start chopping." Gerdur grits her teeth.

"The cowards!"

Ralof smirks lightly. "They wouldn't **dare** give Ulfric a fair trial. Treason, for fighting for your own people! All of Skyrim would have seen the truth then. But then... out of nowhere..." He falls silent and I decide to tell them.

"A dragon attacked."

Gerdur's and Hod's eyes grow big in surprise. "You don't mean, a real, live..." croaks Gerdur softly. I nod, and Ralof speaks up again. "I can hardly believe it myself, and I was there. As strange as it sounds, we'd be dead if not for that dragon. In the confusion, we managed to slip away." He blinks a few times and turns to his sister. "Are we really the first to make it to Riverwood?" Gerdur nods. "Nobody else has come up the south road today, as far as I know."

Ralof sighs in relief. "Good. Maybe we can lay up for a while." He gives Gerdur a worried look. "I hate to put your family in danger, Gerdur, but..." Gerdur raises a hand, silencing her brother. "Nonsense. You and your friend are welcome to stay here as long as you need to." My eyes grow big. I just met this woman and she's letting me stay in her house? "But what about the Imperials?" I ask. "Let me worry about the Imperials." She smiles. "Any friend of Ralof's is a friend of mine." I bow my head to thank her. Ralof smiles as well. "Thanks, sister. I knew we could count on you." Gerdur cracks her back, and I hear a soft "pop" noise. "I ought to get back to work before I'm missed, but..." Gerdur looks at her brother. "Did anyone else escape? Did Ulfric..." Ralof chuckles. "Don't worry. I'm sure he made it out. It'll take more than a dragon to stop Ulfric Stormcloak." Hod claps his hands together. "I'll let them into the house and, you know, show them where everything is..." Gerdur chuckles.

"Hmph. Help them drink up our mead, you mean." Me and Ralof give a light chuckle at this. "Good luck, brother. I'll see you later." Ralof gives his sister a warm smile. "Don't worry about me. I know how to lay low." Gerdur smiles back and turns to me. "There's something you can do for me. For all of us here. The Jarl needs to know if there's a dragon on the loose. Riverwood is defenceless... We need to get word to Jarl Balgruuf in Whiterun to send whatever troops he can. If you'll do that for me, I'll be in your debt." I nod. "Of course. I don't want that thing coming here and killing more innocent people." Suddenly a loud yawn escapes my lips. Gerdur smiles. "You must be very tired. Come, you can sleep at my house." She leads me to a nice wooden cabin, and hands me a key. "It's the spare one. You're welcome to come any time you like."

I give her a thankful smile. "Thank you Gerdur. You're too kind." She only smiles at the compliment and opens the door. The whole place immediately reminds me of these cosy homes from the stories my mother used to tell me before bed. Gerdur motions to a bed standing in a corner. "Feel free to lay down. I wake you when we have dinner." I sit down on the bed after putting my satchel and weapons on the floor. "Thank you again Gerdur." Again, she just smiles. She walks out and I lay down. After finding a comfortable positon, I close my eyes and let myself drift into sleep.

*Timeskip brought to you by the Riverwood trader; Where junk is a treasure*

I can almost hear my consciousness say "You know what? Let's have a nightmare! Those are fun!" So of course I'm pulled into the twisted realm of Vaermina, and have to relive the worst days of my life again and again. The bullying, the day my dad died, the day my mom died, the day I had to leave everything behind and go to Skyrim. But this time this day visits my dreams as well. How many times do I see the dragon eat or burn people? I see myself wade through the blood of the deceased, hearing the voices of the people cry out every time I step on a head or limb. Suddenly the dragon lands in front of me. I try to run away, but my legs are stuck in the swamp of dead bodies. "Ahnok mal fahliil.. (Hello little elf..) Nuk wah luft zey? (Ready to face me?)" I whimper softly. The dragon throws his head back and laughs. "Hi skem zey fahliil. (You amuse me elf.) Hi vis ni kos gein, fah hi vankar kril zii. (You can't be the one, for you lack the brave spirit.) Nuz tul, Zu'u vis ni saraan wah ken hin slen. (But still, I can't wait to taste your flesh.)" And with those words he pounces on me. Suddenly a loud voice rings through my head.

"Sarafina, wake up!"

I open my eyes to see Ralof standing next to the bed. "Are you alright? You were crying in your sleep." I sit up, and wipe my eyes. He's right, I have been crying. I shiver, and he puts a hand on my shoulder. "Nightmare?" I nod silently. He nods understandingly. "I see. I would've been surprised if you didn't have nightmares about that beast." Suddenly I wrap my arms around him in a hug. At first he freezes at the sudden contact, but soon he hugs me back. "There, there.. It's okay.." I mumble something in his shirt, but he doesn't ask me about it. When I let go, he coughs softly, a faint blush on his face. (A/N: Nope. They are NOT going to be a couple. Shut up and read the story. :P) "What time is it?" I ask. "Around half past 8. At morning." I nod, and get up from the bed. "Well. Better got to go eat some breakfast and go to Whiterun I guess." Ralof nods and we sit down at the table. "Gerdur and Hod are at the mill already?"

"Yup. Since 7 o'clock." I chuckle. "They're hard workers." Ralof just grins and passes me a loaf of bread. After breakfast I pick up my satchel and open it. Finding the little white bag, I give a sigh of relief. I still have my reason to come here in the first place. I put it back and pick up the my weapons. Before I open the door, I glance at Ralof. "You're not coming to Whiterun huh?" He shakes his head. "Too many Imperials. They'll recognize me as Ulfric's guard in no time. Nah, I'll go to Windhelm this afternoon." This makes my stomach hurt for a second. "I guess this is goodbye then?" Ralof nods, and I glomp him again. "I'll miss you.. Thanks for everything"

Ralof chuckles softly. "Don't worry, we'll meet again someday." He lets go of me. "Maybe when you decide to join the Stormcloaks." I grin. "Maybe someday." I hug him for the last time. "Goodbye Ralof." He pats my back. "Goodbye Sarafina. Until we meet again."

*Time skip to Sarafina on her way to Whiterun.*

"Oh, would you stop it already?!" I shout in frustration as I see another wolf running my way. Having no time to speak to the savage beast, I slash at his neck. With a high pitched whine, the animal drops dead. "Ugh. These things don't know when to stop. Can't they see I'm just walking here?!" Grumbling, I sheath my sword and continue walking. Seeing the city walls in the distance, I give a little squeal. I'm almost there! After a while I see the walls up close. By Azura, those walls are high! Nothing like Valenwood at all. When I try to go to the gate, I'm stopped by a guard. "Halt. No visitors with the dragons about. Official business only." I swallow, gathering my courage. "I have news from Helgen." Although his face is covered by a helmet, I can almost see his eyebrows go up in surprise. "You have? You better get in and see the Jarl up in Dragonsreach." I give him a nod, and he opens the gates for me. Immediately I gasping over the city. It looks so.. big! "I hope I don't get lost.." I murmur and I begin walking through the city.

Since it's early, the market has just started. I glance at the few stalls, the scent of warm bread, fruits and meat filling my nose. A shopkeeper smiles at me, and holds up a necklace. "A beautiful necklace for a beautiful lady!" I grin. They are kinda nice here. A dark skinned man stops next to me at a fruit stall. "Hello." I greet and he smiles at me. "Do you get to the Cloud district very often?" (A/N: Wait for it.. XD) Before I can answer, he chuckles. "Oh, what am I saying? Of course you don't." And he walks away. I stare at his back, feeling my eye twitch in anger. **EXCUSE** me?! Well, there goes my opinion about nice people here. I grumble and walk on to Dragonsreach.

A/N: Yeaaah.. Gonna end this chapter here. Sorry. :D Writers block is being mean to me.. -_- See you guys in the next chapter! ;D


	4. Chapter 4: A new friend

Chapter 4: A new friend.

A/N: Yay! Writers block is gone! Gimme a WOOP-WOOP! XD Warning: Contains major feels. May cause you to; cry, explode from feels or screaming your lungs out. :P Let's continue our wonderful journey shall we? ;)

When I get to some sort of plaza, I look left and right. Spotting another staircase, I follow it with my eyes. Oh Azura preserve me.. That's a big staircase. Well, better get started. After a few minutes of walking up the stairs, I get to the doors of Dragonsreach. The guards halt me, but after telling them the same thing I told the guard at the gate, they let me pass. The doors open and again I feel my jaw drop. This place is HUGE. And all this is for the Jarl? Damn. I walk towards what seems like a throne, where a blond Nord in noble clothes sits. He must be the Jarl, judging by the circlet on his head.

Suddenly a female Dark Elf unsheathes her sword and walks up to me. "What is the meaning of this interruption? Jarl Balgruuf is not seeing visitors right now." I stare at her sword, backing away a bit. "I need to speak with the Jarl. Riverwood is in danger." The woman snorts. "Anything you have to say to the Jarl, you can say to me." The man on the throne looks up at me, and waves the woman away.

"It's all right, Irileth. I want to hear what she has to say."

The woman, Irileth, steps away and I walk up to the Jarl's throne. He looks at me, blue eyes full of fascination. Up close, he seems to be in his late thirties, but the glint in his eyes gives me a clear message; I'm not weak. Cross me and you will die. "What's this about Riverwood being in danger?" I swallow, gathering up my courage. "Gerdur send me. A dragon attacked Helgen and we're both afraid Riverwood is next." The Jarl raises an eyebrow.

"Gerdur? Owns the lumber mill, if I'm not mistaken. Pillar of the community. Not prone to flights of fancy… And you're sure Helgen was destroyed by a dragon? This wasn't some Stormcloak raid gone wrong?" I cross my arms, feeling my inner sass coming up. "Oh yes. I had a perfect view while the Imperials were trying to cut off my head." I mentally slap myself. Nice going idiot! He raises his eyebrow higher. "Really? You're certainly... forthright about your criminal past. But it's none of my concern who the Imperials want to execute. Especially now. What I want to know is what exactly happened at Helgen."

"A dragon really destroyed Helgen. And the last thing I saw is that it was heading this way." The Jarl nods, muttering under his breath. "By Ysmir, Irileth was right!" He turns to an Imperial man standing next to him. "What do you say now, Proventus? Shall we continue to trust in the strength of our walls? Against a dragon?" Irileth walks up to the Jarl. "My lord, we should send troops to Riverwood at once. It's in the most immediate danger, if that dragon is lurking in the mountains..." Proventus seems to begin panicking at that statement. "The Jarl of Falkreath will view that as a provocation! He'll assume we're preparing to join Ulfric's side and attack him! We mustn't.."

"ENOUGH!" I jumps slightly at the Jarl's raised voice. He turns to Irileth. "Irileth, send a detachment to Riverwood at once." Irileth salutes. "Yes, my Jarl." She walks away and the Jarl turns back to Proventus. "I'll not stand idly by while a dragon burns my hold and slaughters my people!" Proventus bows his head. "If you'll excuse me, I'll return to my duties." The Jarl nods. "That would be best." He turns back to me. "Well done. You sought me out, on your own initiative. You've done Whiterun a service, and I won't forget it. Here, take this as a small token of my esteem." A maid comes running to me and hands me a piece of armour. I look at it, admiring its craftsmanship. "There is another thing you could do for me. Suitable for someone of your particular talents, perhaps. Come, let's go find Farengar, my court wizard. He's been looking into a matter related to these dragons and... rumours of dragons." He stands up, but I stop him.

"With all the respect my lord, but I'm not interested. I only came here to tell you this because I don't want my friend or his family get hurt by one of those monsters. And to be honest, I only came to Skyrim for one reason. To obey my mother's last wish. So, thank you very much, but no thank you." He seems confused by my answer, but nods anyway. "Very well. I understand. But do know the offer still stands." I nod as well. "Perhaps another time. For now, I only want to get to Markarth as soon as possible." I curtsy and walk to the big doors, putting the armour in my backpack. Might be handy later. Getting outside, I walk towards the gates. As soon as I feel the breeze hit my face, I shiver. "The sooner I get to Markarth, the better." I mutter. I walk towards the carriage near the stables. The man looks at me and smiles. "Need a ride?" I nod. "Where do you need to go?"

"Markarth." I dig up my coin purse, finding more than enough coins to pay for the trip. Those Imperial idiots luckily didn't take my money. I would be mother-fudging pissed. I hand him some coin, and he smiles. "Climb in the back, and we'll be off." I climb into the carriage, wrapping my cloak tighter around me. The driver begins singing a tune, and I smile. After a while, the moving of the carriage begins to rock me to sleep, and I close my eyes, giving in to the darkness.

*Time skip brought to you by the city of stone, the safest city in all of Skyrim! (NOT)*

"Oi! Missy! We're here!" I open my eyes, seeing the big dwarven city my dad used to tell me about up close. "Wow.." I mutter, getting out of the carriage. "Thank you for riding with us, have a pleasant day!" the man says with a smirk. I chuckle and walk up to the gates. One of the guards gives me a nod, and opens the gates for me. I smile and walk inside. And once again, I'm gawking at the beauty of the city. Hey, don't blame me, our cities are made out of wood and trees. This one is carved out of the freaking mountain. I walk towards a merchant lady, and ask her where the Hall of the Dead is. She merely smiles and points up hill.

"Enter Understone Keep dear, and then turn left. You should find Brother Verulus there, he'll show you the way." I nod and thank her. Finding the Keep, I walk inside. Okay.. This place is dark. Like very dark. I can barely see a thing! Following the lady's directions, I find the Hall of the Dead pretty easily. I'm greeted by a young man in priest robes, so I'm guessing he's Brother Verulus. "Hello there sir." He gives me a sceptical look, but eventually gives me a nod. "What's your business in a Nord memorial miss Elf?"

"Visiting my father. Why else would I come here?" His eyes widen slightly and he scans my appearance a few times. I can almost hear him thinking. I look like a Woodelf, only my face looks slightly more like a Nord woman. And our kind aren't exactly known for inter-racial relationships. "I-I see.. Who is your father miss?"

"Gaberion Adromea." He nods, and opens the door. "Right this way miss." He leads me through the tomb, and I cough slightly. It's very dusty in here.. We stop before a simple coffin laying in a hole in the wall, and he puts it down on the ground. "I'll leave you alone for now. Call me when you need the coffin placed back." I give him a nod, and he walks off. With shaking hands, I open the coffin and there he is. The balsam ceremony must've done a good job, because it's like my father is just sleeping in the wooden box. His tanned hands are laid across his chest, covering the wound that cost him his life. Just 1 day after the soldier gave me and my mom the bad news, his body was found. I never wanted to see him, afraid I would have another breakdown.

Yet here I am.

I carefully stroke his brown hair, feeling tears leave my eyes. "Hey dad.. I.. err.. I know you didn't expect me to come but.. Mom died. And she asked me to bring her ashes to you. But maybe you already knew that.. Maybe you're in Sovengarde with her right now, drinking ale and stuff.." I grin at the thought. Mom could never handle her liquor, not even in the afterlife. I take the tiny white bag from my satchel and put it under his hands.

"I.. I miss you. Very much. Recently life has been hard for me. After mom died, the people chased me out. Said they 'did not need a black sheep in their herd'." I lower my head. "So here I am. Honestly, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do now.. I have some money to get around but.." I clench my fists closed and sigh. "I guess I can finally put those sword lessons to the test.. Maybe I'll become a mercenary." I smirk at the thought, and give dad a goodbye-kiss on the forehead. "Well.. Maybe I'll come visit one day again.. See you.."

I close the coffin and stand up. Walking out of the tomb, I give the priest a nod. He nods back and I walk away. I sniffle slightly, wiping my nose. Looks like I'm spending the night at an inn tonight. Sweet.

As soon as I enter the Silver-Blood inn, I see a man sitting at the bar. He's clearly drunk. I wrinkle my noise, and sit down as far as possible from him. The bartender looks at me. "And what will it be for ya missy?"

"Just an ale. And I would like to rent a room for the night."

"Sure thing. It's yours for a night." He hands me a key and an bottle of ale. I unplug the cork of the bottle and take a swig. Unlike my mother, I can handle liquor quite well. Suddenly someone sits next to me. It's the drunken man. I glare at him. "Need something?" I spit. "Don't be so grumpy gorgeous. I'm just trying to be social." I snort loudly and take another sip of my drink. "Well, I'm not in the mood for talking. Certainly not with a drunk guy."

"Ouch. I thought Wood elves weren't like High elves. Guess you guys are just as cold as ice." I roll my eyes and look at him. "Just tell me what you want or get lost." The guy grins, revealing white teeth. I mentally blush. This guy is pretty hot. From his ears hang two feathers, blending nicely in with his blond hair. In the dim light of the room, I can see two streaks of war paint on each cheek. The armour he's wearing isn't helping much either. Damn, leave some of your chest to the imagination please..

"A bet." I raise an eyebrow. "A bet?" He nods. "Hm-hm. I'm drunk, and I haven't had a good fight in while. I'll bet you 100 septims you can't beat me." I chuckle and put my drink down. "Sure.. Why not." And before he can react, I swing my fist in his face, making him fall to the ground. He lays there for a few seconds, flabbergasted. I hold up my hand. "I would like that 100 gold now."

"Not fair! I wasn't ready!"

"Doesn't matter. I beat you, didn't I?" The man grumbles. "Fine." He cracks his jaw a bit. "You do throw a good punch though." I chuckle and pull him up from the ground. He hands me a bag of coins. "What's your name gorgeous?"

"Sarafina. You?"

"Cosnach. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to lay down." I smile, shaking my head and picking up my bottle of ale. I drink it all up and go towards my room. Oh, whoopee. More stone. Even the freaking bed. Oh well, I'll make it work. I lay down, using my backpack as a pillow. And soon enough, I fall asleep.

A/N: FINALLY! Gimme a hallelujah! (Hallelujah!)

For some reason, Sarafina sleeps a lot. *shrugs* Oh well.

Don't expect the next chapter to come up very soon, I've got exams coming up.. DX But anyways.. Happy holidays everyone! See all you guys in 2015! ;D


	5. Chapter 5: And there goes my sanity

**Chapter 5: And there goes my sanity.**

A/N: Yay! I had inspiration for this story :3 Let's go, shall we? :D

With a yawn I sit up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I sigh. "Let's see if they have any jobs I can take around here.. One that DOESN'T criticise me for being part Woodelf.." I fling my legs off the bed and pick up my back-pack. Going out of my room, I head straight for the innkeeper. The idiot from yesterday is sitting at a table, cradling his head. He must be hung-over.

I chuckle slightly and turn to the inn-keeper. "Is there any work around here I can take?" The man raises an eyebrow and scratches the back of his head. "Well.. there is this.." He pulls out a bounty letter. "The Jarl's men came yesterday and left this letter. The bounty is around 500 gold if you clear out a bandit's hideout." I take a look at the letter, seeing a drawing of a grim looking Nord, scars all over his face. "I'll do it."

"What?!" I turn around to see Cosnach standing a few steps away from me. "You're.. You're actually thinking about clearing out a bandit's hideout by YOURSELF?!" I raise an eyebrow. "I need the money idiot. And what's it to you?" He seems thrown back by my statement, but he straightens up. "I'm not letting a young woman like you march in a bandit's nest by herself."

"_**Excuse**_ me sir, but I'm 23. I can take perfectly good care of myself. And what are you gonna do about it?"

"I'm coming with you."

My eyes widen. "You're.. what?"

"I'm coming with you. And that's final." I stare at him for a while, but realize there's no use changing his mind. I cross my arms. "Fine. Just don't get in my way." He grins and picks up his great-sword. "I won't gorgeous. Lead the way."

I blush. "Don't call me that. My name is Sarafina."

"Fine. _Gorgeous_ Sarafina." I roll my eyes. "Ugh.. Shut up, will ya?"

*Time skip to 3 months later*

Cosnach and I actually grew quite fond of each other. He called me gorgeous a lot, much to my annoyance, so I call him stupid or idiot. We usually accept those bounty letters and go off clearing out bandit hideouts or go run errands. But we like each other's company nonetheless. Today we received another bounty letter, one for a group of bandits near Riften. Of course we accepted and now we're on our way.

"Hey gorgeous, what's wrong? You seem off." I glance at Cosnach and give a tiny smile. "I'm fine Cosnach. Just.. thinking." He tilts his head slightly. "What about?"

"I heard there's an orphanage in Riften. I always wanted to have kids, but.. Well.. This lifestyle is probably nothing for a kid." Cosnach chuckles. "Maybe when we have enough gold to settle down, huh?" I blush slightly. Cosnach and his jokes about marriage. Honestly, an old lady in Whiterun once asked us if we were a couple and now he won't stop pestering me about it. I chuckle. "Sure."

*Time skip to our heroes being in the bandit's hideout cause I'm laaaaaazy… :3*

I kick the bandit where the sun doesn't shine, making him topple over, and I stab him in the back. The man quickly dies and falls down on the ground. "You seem to like fighting with dirty tricks huh Sarafina?" I shrug. "If it helps me win, then yes." Cosnach shakes his head, chuckling softly. Suddenly we both hear people coming our way. I want to ready myself, but Cosnach pushes me into an empty chest. Before I can protest, he closes the lid and whispers something. "Stay there, I'll take care of them." I roll my eyes, but obey anyways. Stupid idiot wants to show off..

"Hello gentlemen." I hear Cosnach say and I have to keep myself from laughing. Idiot. I hear the men gasp and weapons being unsheathed. A loud battle cry is heard from Cosnach and then the battle begins. I just close my eyes and wait until Cosnach will come and get me, with that smirk on his face that says: "I'm such a hero." But suddenly there's a sound I never wanted to hear coming from his mouth.

A cry of enormous pain.

I hear a body drop to the ground and someone kicking it. Cosnach gives a yelp of agony. "Stupid idiot. Let's leave him here. He'll bleed out." I hear one of the bandits say. I put a hand to my mouth to restrict myself from screaming. The sound of footsteps die out from the room, signalling they are gone. After a few minutes I carefully lift the lid to see Cosnach laying on the ground, clutching his stomach. I rush over to him.

"You idiot! Why did you think you could take them?!" Cosnach gives me a weak smile and coughs up some blood. "Guess I was being stupid.." I grab his hand and try to cast a healing spell. "You're gonna be okay.. You're not gonna die. Not on my watch idiot." He chuckles weakly. "Sarafina.. Don't you see? This wound is too deep. There's nothing you can do.."

"Shut up! I-I'm not gonna let you die!" Cosnach lays a hand on my cheek. "It's okay.. Just promise me something.." Tears flow over my cheeks. "W-What?"

"Be happy.. You'll find someone.. who likes you.. even if you are a.. a Woodelf." I smile slightly. "I-I.. I will.." He smiles and pulls me closer. I see what he's trying to do, and I close the distance between us, kissing him softly on the lips. When I pull back, his eyes are staring into nothingness, empty as the void.

"Goodbye Cosnach.." I hold his hand tighter and tighter. The familiar feeling of a breakdown is rushing through my body. But now.. now there's no mom or Ralof to calm me down. No rope to pull myself from the pit. I close my eyes, and with a loud scream, everything goes black.

*Time skip brought to you by panic-attacks. You'll feel like crap! :D*

(A/N: WARNING! Gore! Skip if you vomit easily.. :D)

Panting. The sound of panting is the only thing I hear when I wake. Soon I realize it's me who's panting so heavily. I open my eyes, and immediately regret it. There's blood everywhere. On the floor, the walls, even a bit on the ceiling. I glance down and almost throw up. There's a dead man lying under me, my hands on his throat. I recognize his face. It's the leader of the bandits we were supposed to kill. His eyes are clawed out, his blood all over my hands. On closer inspection, my hands are very bloody, with tiny pieces of meat under my nails. I shudder and glance around me. This sight is even nicer. Everywhere are dead bandits. All of them have their throats slit or clawed open. Shaking, I stand up. My legs feels like jelly and I collapse on another body, a woman. This one seems alive, and tries to get away from me.

"P-Please.. No more.. I.. I'm sorry.." The woman looks on the edge of death, her neck bleeding very slowly but painfully. I swallow my nausea back. I need to get out of here. Using the wall as support, I stand up and wobble away. Suddenly the smell hits my nose, and this time I can't control my stomach. Just lovely. I wipe my mouth with a shaking hand and walk further. After an agonizing time of 30 minutes, I manage to find the exit. Feeling the cool breeze hit my face, I collapse once again. Great.

I manage to roll on my stomach. "Okay Sarafina.." I begin to pep-talk myself. "Let's rethink all of this okay? Cosnach is dead, and you had a serious mental breakdown. Nothing to worry about, apart from a whole hideout full of dead bandits…" I swallow, trying not to think of the horrors I just saw. "But you're gonna be fine.. Check if you still have everything." My hands pat along my hips, feeling my sword and dagger. My backpack is still on my back. "Okay.. Next thing. Try to stand up." I push myself up a bit, managing to sit on my hands and knees.

"Okay.. That's good enough for now. Let's look at the positive things for now. You're alive.. and the man you had to kill is dead. So you have the bounty. But.. no Cosnach." My teeth cut into the flesh of my lips and fresh tears roll over my cheeks. Darn it.. I stand up, trying to pull myself together. The sun is rising, so I've been in there for quite some time. "Okay.. Next thing. Get somewhere safe so you can rest. You should go to Riften. But stay calm and stay alert. You can't let yourself have another breakdown because of this. Just keep breathing.."

I follow my own orders and start to walk. Funnily enough, the trip only lasts about 15 minutes, and no animals attack me in my weak state. Finally, finally, I see the gate of Riften. I want to go through it, but two guards block the way. "Halt. Before you can enter the city, you must pay the visitors fare." I raise a tired eyebrow. "A fare? For WHAT?"

"For the privilege of v-visiting our beautiful city. N-Now pay up." He stutters back. I clench my teeth and a dark aura begins to form around me. "Now listen here, my good sir. I just had an very bad day. And you better let me through before I claw your lying throat out, since this is clearly a set-up." The guards back up a bit, shaking in fear. "R-Right. I-I'll open the gate right now.." They quickly open the gates, and I get in.

I walk into an inn and smack some coins on the counter. "A room for tonight please." The innkeeper, an Argonian woman, twitches slightly, then composes herself. "Certainly. It's yours for the night." She gives me a key, and a worried look. "Are you alright dear? You don't look so good-"

"I'm fine." I snap back, taking the key and walking off to my room. A little Nord girl looks at me and my bloodied clothes. "Are you from the Dark Brotherhood madam?" I snap my neck looking towards her, and another Nord woman fearfully pulls the girl away. "Amber! Don't go ask people about those things!"

"But she's covered in blood mommy!"

"That doesn't matter Amber. Don't ask such horrible things."

I bite my lip, and walk into my room. Changing my bloodied clothes for clean ones, I can't push away the girl's question. Did I like killing those men and women? They did kill my friend. An eye for an eye, as they say. But would I make it my job to.. kill people? I shake the thought off. No! No, of course not.. But still.. I lay down on my bed and put my hands under my head. For a few minutes, I stare at the ceiling. _"Be happy.. You'll find someone.. who likes you.. even if you are a.. a Woodelf." _ Cosnach's last words haunt my mind. I close my eyes, pushing back the tears. Gods damn it Sarafina, stay strong! I step of the bed and put my bloodied clothes in my backpack.

Suddenly something hits my fingers. Raising an eyebrow, I pull out a package, with a note on it. Curious, I read the note.

_Dear Sarafina,_

_When you're reading this, we're probably both done with our latest contract. Now, you might be surprised that there is a package in your bag, but bear with me. I bought this for you. I probably mentioned our old joke again on the road, the one about settling down when we have enough money. Well, surprise! Turns out my father had an old fortune somewhere, and I got my share. So, I'm probably sitting next to you right now, awaiting your answer. Open the package, and I'm praying to Mara you'll say yes._

_Love, Cosnach_

My fingers drop the note and I quickly open the package. My heart almost stops. It's an amulet of Mara. "By the divines.." I mutter. He was trying to propose?! With shaking hands, I pick up the jewellery. I hug the golden necklace tight to my chest.

"Yes. A thousand times yes.. Gods damn it you stupid idiot.. Why did you have to be the hero all the time?!" I throw the wretched thing in my bag. "Gods damn it.." I whisper, rocking myself from side to side. Suddenly I'm on the ground, arms wrapped around my legs and head hiding in my knees, sobbing loudly.

"Excuse me?" I look up to see a young Katjit woman standing by the door. "Are you okay?" I wipe my eyes. "I'm fine. Just.. leave me alone.." I hide my face in my knees again. Suddenly someone sits down opposite of me. It's the Katjit girl. "What do you want?!" I hiss, and she flinches slightly, dark-blond tail swaying nervously. "I-I.. I'm just checking if y-you're okay.." I send her a glare. "I don't need your compassion." Silence. "W-well.. Well, I don't care! You look like you could need a friend." The girl crosses her arms, trying to act brave. I look at her for a second, then shake my head unamused.

"Mara's mercy, you're persistent. Fine. Wanna know what's wrong?" The girl nods. "I just lost my friend, had a mental breakdown thanks to that, and killed an entire stronghold of bandits in my delusional state. Good enough for you?" The girl blinks her light-green eyes a few times. "How did he die?"

What. The. Hell. Where did that come from.

"What do you mean?"

"Your friend. How did he die?" I blink a few times. Did the whole I-killed-a-lot-of-people-thing not sink in here?

"Stabbed."

"Oh. I'm sorry for your loss." _I'm sorry for your loss.. sorry for your loss.. for your loss.. your loss.. loss.. _It echoes through my head. How many times have I heard that sentence? When my father died, when mom died.. And now Cosnach. I clench my fists. "No you're not.."

"E-excuse me?"

"You're not sorry. Why would you be sorry? Nobody ever cared, so why should you? Why now?" I say with a monotone voice. "B-Because.. Just because." She replies.

"You hardly even know me."

"I could get to know you. Why don't we start with names? I'm Suntail." (A/N: Whoever reads "the journey" on my Pixton-account, raise your hands! XD) She offers me a hand, and I stare blankly at it for a few seconds, before shaking it slowly. "Sarafina." Suntail smiles, revealing pearly white, pointy teeth. "Nice to meet you Sarafina." I shrug. "Likewise. I guess."

"Where are you from?" I give her a questionable look. "What? These questions are good for getting to know each other!" I snort softly and look at her. "Valenwood."

"Cool! Is it true your cities are made out of trees?" I nod, and Suntail smiles. "Awesome! I never saw my home country, since I was born here in Skyrim and my parents never let me leave. It's sounds so cool to travel around and seeing other cities.." I tilt my head slightly. "You mean you never left Riften or something?"

Suntail shrugs. "Nope. Never left the Rift. I wish I could go to High Hrothgar or the temple of Dibella in Markarth.. It all sounds so exciting." And for the first time in for a few hours, I smile slightly. Suntail's eyes grow big in excitement seeing my minuscule smile. "Yay! I made you smile! See? It's much more fun being happy then grumpy, right?" I want to pout, but her statement makes my smile even wider. A sound at the back of my throat begins to rumble. Suntail tilts her head, smiling brighter. "Feeling better already huh?" The sound escapes my throat, a soft chuckle.

She claps her hands together. "Yay! You're chuckling! This is excellent progress!" I roll my eyes. What a goofball. But a funny goofball. We continued to talk for a while, until we were both tired. Suntail yawns loudly. "Well.. I'm off to bed. Maybe I'll see you in the morning?" I shrug. "Maybe. Good night."

"Night."

She walks out of the room, closing the door behind her. I lay down on the bed again, staring at the ceiling for a while. _"I heard there's an orphanage in Riften. I always wanted to have kids, but.. Well.. This lifestyle is probably nothing for a kid." _ I sit up, and nod to myself.

Tomorrow, I'm getting a kid.

A/N: YAY! This is my longest chapter yet.. O_o I own Suntail btw, she's my Warrior cats OC. Thanks for reading guys, love you all. ;) HAPPY HOLIDAYS!


	6. Chapter 6: Oh for Talos's shake

**Chapter 6: Oh for Talos's shake..**

Honorhall orphanage. That's what the board says. On first glance, the building doesn't look much. I could've easily mistaken it for a normal house, if that board wasn't there. Oh well. I open the door and walk inside. First thing I see is a big table, big enough to let 8 people eat at it. It smells like cinnamon and other cosy stuff. This seems like a nice place. But that image shatters as I hear an old woman talk.

"Those who shirk their duties will get an extra beating. Do I make myself clear?"

Excuse me?! I walk around a corner to see 4 kids standing in front of an old woman, who has her arms crossed. The poor things are shaking in fear, which I hear in their voices as they reply; "Yes Grelod.."

"And one more thing! I will hear no more talk of adoptions! None of you riff-raff is getting adopted. Ever! Nobody needs you, nobody wants you. That, my darlings, is why you're here. Why you will always be here, until the day you come of age and get thrown into that wide, horrible world. Now, what do you all say?"

"We love you, Grelod. Thank you for your kindness."

"That's better. Now scurry off, my little guttersnipes."

My blood is practically boiling now. How dare she. How dare she talk to little children like that?! How old are they? 11? One of kids, a brunette boy, looks up at me. He seems to check if that hag is gone, then he whispers out to me. "Please, lady. You got to get me out of here. Ever since Aventus left, Grelod's been even meaner than usual. I swear, she's going to kill one of us."

It feels like a dagger just cut through my soul hearing his words. I stare at the room the hag just went in. How dare she. I walk towards it and close the door behind me. Grelod looks up and scowls.

"What do you want? You have no business being in here!"

I keep an emotionless mask and walk towards her. She doesn't even flinch. "What are you staring at, you worthless piece of gutter trash? I simply must start locking the doors again-"

She doesn't even get to finish her sentence, as I punch her in the face. Now, it was meant to be a punch that said "How dare you hurt these kids". But sadly, this old woman is.. well.. old. She tumbles over, her neck hitting the headboard of her bed. I heard a sickening crack and then she goes limp. Oh crap. I back away slowly. Crap. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap. And that's when I made the stupidest decision of my entire life.

I ran.

I just ran out of the room, probably scaring the children outta their wits, and ran out of the building. I didn't stop running until I found a quiet place near the docks. Getting there, I curl up in a ball on the ground. By Azura.. Did I just kill someone AGAIN?! I curse up a storm under my breath. What the hell is wrong with me?!

_But it felt good, didn't it?_

Shut up brain!

_But you liked it. Don't deny it. You felt good hearing that hag's neck snap like a twig._

I shudder. Did I really..?

"Sarafina? Is that you?" I look up to see Suntail standing a few meters away from me. I sit up, feeling myself shake slightly. Suntail walks towards me. "Hey.. What's wrong?" She squats down next to me, and I break. I pull her in for a hug, shaking uncontrollably. She seems surprised, but pats my back nonetheless.

"Hey.. There, there.. It's okay.. Tell me what's wrong."

"I.. I.. I-I.. By the divines.. I-I never meant it.. I never m-meant to k-kill her.." Suntail suddenly pulls away and looks me dead in the eyes. "What? What are you taking about? Who did you kill?" I bite my lip. "T-that hag in the.. the orphanage.. She.. She was being so mean to those children.. and.. and I.. I just.. I punched her.. But she fell.. And.. And b-broke her neck.." It's silent for a while. And suddenly Suntail chuckles. I look at her in surprise. "W-why are you laughing?"

"That hag is finally dead? By Mara, I should give you a prize!"

Wow. And I thought this girl couldn't get weirder.

"W-w-w-what?!"

Suntail chuckles. "Oh please, don't be so surprised. That old hag would've been dead for years if I was brave enough to do it myself."

She seems to notice my confusion. "I was in the orphanage when I was small. My real parents died during a bandit raid when I was 9. I hid, and was found by a friendly merchant lady. She took me to Honorhall, and Grelod was nice to me for about 5 minutes. Then she turned evil against me, and picked on me more because I'm a Khajit. Luckily, when I was 13, I was adopted by that same merchant lady who found me. Been living with her for 5 years now."

"You seem to have as much as a fudged up life as me." I mutter, and Suntail chuckles slightly.

"We're all a bit fudged up. But don't feel so sorry about what happened. That hag deserved worse than a broken neck." She offers me a hand. "So come on, get up and dry those tears. Look at the bright side, those kids won't be tormented by that hag anymore, right?"

I sniffle and take her hand. "I.. I guess you're right.. But still.."

"Did you mean to kill her?"

"No! No of course not!"

_But it did feel good to hear that old neck snap like a.. _SHUT UP!

"That's what matters. That means you're not like those cutthroats out in the wild."

I nod, but there's still that little nagging noise in my head. Did I like it? My moral feeling says no, but my head and heart.. say otherwise. Oh for the love of Azura.. I'm not turning into a murderer, am I?

"Thanks Suntail. I'm really thankful for last night as well. It's been a while since people managed to comfort me enough. Most people just.. back away at my attitude."

"Don't mention it. I know how to break through people's shell. I'm just glad I could help." She smiles. "Tell you what, how about we go get a drink together? I'll pay." I give a small smile back. "Yeah.. Yeah, that sounds good."

*Time skip to after having a drink or 2 with our furry friend*

Suntail and I began talking with each other, of course with a good bottle of Black Briar mead in front of us. I told her about my life, how I got to Skyrim and how my family was like. Suntail listens to me full of interest. "So you're a half-blood? That sounds so cool! I never knew children were possible between Elves and Humans."

"It's rare, but sometimes it happens. Us Elves are very.. pure-blood driven, so they almost never have a relationship that intimate with humans or other races. The whole idea that other races may 'spoil the bloodline' sounds like complete crap to me though."

Suntail giggles slightly at my statement. "I believe I have a cousin somewhere who's half Orc, half Khajit. He's.. very.. well, how do I say it.. He has enormous fangs and his fur is muddy-green."

"Well, he sounds handsome." We both laugh.

Suntail takes a sip of her drink. "So, what are you planning to do now? I mean, you could find a job around here, right?"

I shrug. "Maybe I should go to Windhelm. A friend of mine is a Stormcloak soldier. I could join them." Suntail raises an eyebrow. "A Stormcloak? You want to join the Stormcloaks?" I shrug again. "I could. It's better than just wandering from city to city. And it's for a greater good."

Suntail smiles. "Sounds like you already got a plan." I chuckle, shaking my head. "Well, it's my best choice for now."

*Time skip to later, because.. well.. I'M JUST LAZY 'KAY?*

After saying goodbye to Suntail, I exited the city. The guards began trembling at the sight of me, but I just smiled and gave them a small wave. I grin as one of the guards almost faints. I breath in deeply.

Well, here we go again.

Luckily Windhelm isn't that far from Riften, so I reach the city in the beginning of the afternoon. Sadly, this is the one of the chilliest parts of Skyrim. Shivering, I pull my cloak closer around me, puffs of steam escaping my mouth, while I go through the gates.

And the first thing I see, is two male Nords harassing a female Dark Elf. Sigh.

"You come here where you're not wanted, you eat our food, you pollute our city with your stink and you refuse to help the Stormcloaks." Says the first Nord. The woman makes a shocked sound, trying to defend herself. "B-but we haven't taken a side because it's not our fight." The second Nord suddenly pipes in. "Hey, maybe the reason these grey-skins don't help in the war is because they're Imperial spies!"

I facepalm. Really?

"Imperial spies? Y-You can't be serious!" The woman stutters. The first Nord grabs her by her collar, bringing his face close to hers.

"Maybe we'll pay you a visit tonight, little spy. We got ways of finding out what you really are."

And he throws her on the ground. And here, is where I draw the line. The two men walk off snickering, and I walk towards the woman. She sighs, but her face turns grim seeing me standing in front of her.

"Do you hate the dark elves? Are you here to bully us and tell us to leave?" I raise an eyebrow and point to myself. "Uhm.. Don't know if you noticed, but I'm an Elf too. And even if I wasn't, I wouldn't hate you."

She snorts. "You've come to the wrong city, then. Windhelm's a haven of prejudice and narrow thinking, unworthy of one such as you."

I snort as well and help her up, glancing at the backs of the two men who are walking away. "Are you okay though? Those idiots were being pretty rough on you."

The woman shrugs. "Nothing new there. Most of the Nords living in Windhelm don't care much for us, but Rolff is the worst by far. He likes to get drunk and walk around the Grey Quarter yelling insults at us in the small hours of the morning. A real charmer, that one."

I chuckle. "Sounds like most Nords. But why in Oblivion would they think you're a spy?"

"Some of these Nords will come up with any excuse to despise us. And it isn't just the dark elves they hate, they make a target of the Argonians as well. In fact, just about anyone who isn't a Nord is fair game for their bullying." My eye twitches. Idiots.

"Humph. Idiots. It's their loss. We can be awesome in our own way." I say smiling and the woman laughs along with me. "I'm Suvaris by the way. And you?"

"Sarafina. Nice to meet you." We shake hands.

"Well.. Have a good day Sarafina." She bids me farewell and walks away. I glance at the palace, and think of my original goal here. Do I still want to join this army? One that criticises people for being a different race?

…

…

Nope. Not at all.

I mentally grit my teeth. Came here all for nothing. Cursing under my breath, I kick away a little stone.

"OW! What in Talos name?!"

Oops. I look at the person who I hit on accident with the piece of rock. My heart leaps. The voice sounded so familiar for a reason.

"Ralof?"

He looks at me and his eyes light up. "Sarafina!" Ralof runs towards me, and picks me up in a bearhug. "It's so good to see you! How are you?"

"R-Ralof.. C-can't.. b-breathe.."

He quickly releases me and scratches the back of his neck. "Whoops. Sorry."

"It's fine. I'm glad to see you too."

He grins and ruffles my hair. Which isn't really easy, since we're both around the same height.

"What are you doing in Windhelm? Finally come to your senses and come to join our army?" I think about it for a second, and shake my head. "Nah. Just wanted to visit my friend. Guess I didn't have to search long for him." Ralof laughs loudly. "Well you must be tired from your journey. Come, let's go to Candle Hearth Hall."

We walk inside the inn and sit down at a table. Ralof, being the full-blood Nord and a gentleman, offers to buy me a drink, but I politely refuse. I've had enough alcohol for one day. We chatter for a while.

"So, how has life been for you these past 3 months? You look.. troubled by something."

I smirk slightly. "Something? More like a lot of somethings."

Ralof chuckles. "Tell your old buddy Ralof all about it."

"Well, let's see.." I begin counting down on my fingers. "Visited my dad's grave, found a new friend who died just yesterday, had a mental breakdown seeing him die, killed an entire hideout of bandits in my rage.." Ralof nearly chokes on his ale. "Choke carefully please. Err… Yeah, that's about it." I don't want to tell him about my.. accident yet.

Ralof stares at me like I've gone crazy. "You did.. What?!"

"Killed an entire bandit hideout by myself." I say with a straight face. Ralof leans back in his chair. "Mara's mercy.. You keep surprising me every time I see you. First you get over a dragon attack in like a minute, and then you kill a hideout full with bandits by yourself.. You're a mystery Sarafina."

I shrug. "I try."

Suddenly I'm tapped on the shoulder. I turn my head to see a nervous courier standing there.

"I've been looking for you. Got something I'm supposed to deliver. Your hands only." He reaches in his statchel. "Let's see here..." He pulls out a note and hands it to me. I raise an eyebrow. "A note? From who?"

"Don't know. Creepy fella, black robe. Couldn't see his face. Paid me a pretty sum to get that into your hands, though." He nervously scratches the back of his neck. "Looks like that's it. Got to go."

He walks away. Ralof raises an eyebrow as well. "What was that all about?"

I shrug. "Dunno. Must be important if mister creepy dude paid him a lot of money. Let's see.."

I open the note, and feeling my heart stop in fear. On the note is a black hand print, along with two words. Just two words. But they scare the hell out of me anyways.

_**We know.**_

A/N: Yay! Chapter 6 is done. Sarafina is going on a dark path.. XD Happy New Year everybody! Hope you'll have a wonderful 2015! ;D


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